21 August 2007…
The NEPAD Steering Committee will hold the upcoming session on August 22nd and 23rd, in Johannesburg, to prepare for the "Brainstorming" Summit, which the African Heads of State have decided to hold in Dakar in October 2007.
Holding the meetings of the NEPAD Steering Committee comes as a follow-up of the African Union Summit, held in July 2007, in Accra, in which President Mubarak participated; and as an implementation of the Summit's resolutions concerning the importance of taking the necessary measures to enhance the NEPAD work, in addition to augmenting the efforts exerted to implement the objectives of the initiative and achieving comprehensive economic and political development in Africa.
The NEPAD Steering Committee includes personal representatives of the Heads of State of the NEPAD founding countries, including Egypt.
The Personal Representative of President Mubarak to the NEPAD, Ambassador Ibrahim Ali Hassan, stated that the meeting of the NEPAD Steering Committee in Johannesburg will discuss the reports and work papers which will be presented to the Presidents concerning the achieved progress in implementing the NEPAD programs in all sectors; the obstacles facing the NEPAD work; and providing the needed finance for implementing development projects, especially in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, and information technology.
Ambassador Hassan added that the personal representatives will discuss the African plan of action, which will be proposed by the African side during their upcoming meeting with the personal representatives of the G8 members and other developed countries, members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), within the framework of the "Forum for Cooperation with Africa", concerned with supporting partnership relations between Africa and the developed countries to achieve the NEPAD objectives.